The Bightlands
The Bightlands is a dukedom of the Principality of Crahia first established shortly after the Lobott Coup, and Deylki-Sefenlander War. Prior to these conflicts, the Bightlands had been seen as merely an extension of the characterless Trunk of Crahia. Petty lords, kings, and landed knights vied for power, but were never allowed to grow so very strong under the watchful eyes of the Sefenlander Goodlords of the Crahish Coast. This came to an end when Sefenlander Emperor Messink Messon set out to properly conquer the whole of the Delklands, and civilize Crahia. He ousted most of the petty lords and kings, but cleverly decided to keep Sir Judus Talltowers in power. This was the single greatest mistake of his reign. He had a gut feeling that Judus was not trustworthy, but decided to ignore this feeling. He never became aware why this was, but it was what ended up undoing his dynasty, and breaking the power of the Sefenlands. The inhabitants are nominally "Bightlanders," but they often refer to themselves as Toofers, and are referred to by others variously as "Tiefs," "Teefs," and as "Tooth Fairies." Heraldry: The Bightlander Banner was created by Lady Bettenes Talltowers, wife of Lord Judus Talltowers. Lord Judus resented Sefenlander Imperial rule over Crahia and the continent of the Delklands, and organized a rebellion which led to the creation of an empire centered in the Delkish Continent rather than in some foreign country. Prior to this he had been a trusted confidant to the Sefenlander Emperors. Lord Judus' ward Baash Wall, and bastard son Qé ("Key") Talltowers were the two most important military leaders of the War in Lobott. Bettenes actually had a very good relationship with her husband's bastard son, as he was born prior to her marriage to him. Qé was half-Sarplander, and strongly resented Sefenlander rule. The Sarplander standard features all the Bightlander Banner's colors, as well as four snakes. Two famous Sarplander mottos are "Beware Our Bite," and "DON'T TREAD ON ME!" which is almost always stylistically capitalized. Bettenes designed the banner around the uniquely-shaped banners most popular within the world of Tale of Zul. The snake's four inner teeth represented the rebellious nature of the Bightlands, not dissimilar to the Sarpland. The two outer teeth represent Pilat and Crahia. Additionally the colors are designed to allude to the Badlands, its northern neighbor, to show that there is a little bit of the Badlands in them (most notably the Pilantine Bightlands). Geography: The Pilantine Bightlands is a strangely beautiful place. It can best be described as a damp desert with dark sand, and even occasional snows. Crooked trees dot the landscape, as do small grey ponds. Seasons there are notable for being especially mild, with the exceptions of the Hot Season and Dry Season, which is usually called the "Windy Season" by locals. The foreboding Teeth Mountains act as a beautiful backdrop to these desolate landscapes. Living here is difficult, and so it is the most sparsely populated region of the Bightlands, though in ancient times it was far more productive, and even considered a breadbasket of Pilat. There may be more than 10,000 villages in the foothills of the Teeth Mountains leading down into the Bightlands. Most have less than 100 people living within them. These people raise goats and chickens, and walk down huge mountains multiple times in a week to visit low lying market towns. Sugar priests often accompany them, and it is said that they hold "great walks" rather than "great works." Of course the number of villages in the hills pales in comparison to the number of villages between Crowtonne and Toothtonne. Most of these villages are home to two or three families. At best, a walking path could exist to allow travel to some far flung village to attend a great work perhaps yearly. These people live in squalor, and were considered among the poorest living in the Delkish Empire, even at its height. There are no notable towns in the area. The fishermen of Hemeres, Aceles, and Eppies are a bit notable, in that they are even more dour and unpleasant than their fellow countrymen. The stretch of the Longroad which runs through the Bightlands is often mocked as the Golden Tooth Necklace, as it strings along many peculiarly-named towns, famed for their extremely religious nature, including: Bleach (and to a lesser extent Amonia, which is in both the Bightlands and Pilat), Bishop, Lealty, Wisdom, Truth, Good Hygiene, and Generosity. Generosity is famed for being the origin of the tooth fairy myth, although tooth fairies in the myths were often scarier, and more mischievous than in the story oftentimes told to children by the time of Huron Space. Other villages in the Bightlands include: Antivenom, Wood Dentures, Maw, Mawl, and Mother-o'-Pearl. History: War in Lobott: Judus was in very many ways, Yulas Deyla reborn. He hated the Sefenlanders, and saw them as nothing but monstrous slavers, and Messink as no better. He hired the greatest teachers and tutors in the world, as well as the greatest warriors he could find, and began warding the children of very many lords and ladies in the Delklands. Just a year after Crahia had been conquered, on CC: 23/4/4,865 (Crahia was conquered 20/4/4,864), the War in Lobott kicked off (strangely) just off the coast of the Bightlands between Hemeres and Bightrock Isle, when Lobottmen disguised as pyrates and Farwesterners commandeered a ship full of slaves headed for Fourftonne. There the rebels and the slaves stole valuables from countless ships anchored at port, and burned a hundred more. This was done with foreknowledge that there would be laxed security and military presence on that day. Judus had secretly organized the event, but as Messink was busy in Pilat, he merely delegated handling of the task to his officers. They ineptly were unable to deduce that there must be a mole who provided that information, and Judus had successfully began a rebellion in secret. He continued raising wards, encouraging them to have negative opinions of the Sefenlands. He sowed the seeds of a greater rebellion within them, managing to survive the whole of Messink's reign, and avoid suspicion under Makexes, and finally, on CC: 27/2/4,932, a young lady Fraunie Gaul, wife of Lord Grinn Wall, gave birth to Baash Wall within the Toothtower seat of the House of Talltowers. Baash would go on to become the face of the rebellion, who pioneered such techniques as wearing camouflaged uniform, and relied on surprise attacks to harry the Sefenlanders at every turn. Indeed when Sulenn Messoloriha first joined the rebels, she was brought to Lord Judus Talltowers. When the coup went through, Judus had already organized many fellow Crahish lords to declare for Baash and Sulenn, becoming one of the first to espouse the view that the Delkish Empire ought to exist and control much of the world. This is why his house would later be raised to dukedom by King Majkal Messoloriha. The Bightlands are called the Bightlands for three reasons: they exist on a bight, they exist by the Teeth Mountains, and because one of the slogans used by the rebels during the War in Lobott was "Beware Our Bite." This actually had almost nothing to do with the Bightlands, and almost everything to do with Judus' half-Sarplander bastard son, Qé Talltowers. Sarplanders used a snake as one of their prominent symbols, and a snake's bite and teeth became attached to Bightlander imagery later on. So did the Sarplander motto, "DON'T TREAD ON ME!" The Sarplanders made up a large part of the rebellion because of his prominence, and because of the two enemy nations' common enemy in the Sefenlands. It should be noted that Qé and Baash very prominently feuded following the war's end. Their feud mostly centered around what role the Sarpland would take in this new world order. Qé wanted Sarplander independence, with a government made up more peace-loving chieftains allied with a reformed Coldlander government (which he pictured as including Crahia and the Delkish Sefenlands). Dukedom: Tale of Zul: Category:States Category:Locations Category:History Category:The Delklands Category:Fiefs Category:Duchies